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Installing latest OS on 2007 macbook pro?

I have a 15" "Santa Rosa" macbook pro from 2007 that I used for video editing while I was in film school and still occasionally use for editing old short films as a hobby. My everyday computer is a PC gaming desktop running Windows 8 (which I hate). Now, at my new business I'm using a Square ipad POS system and an ipad inventory system. I'd like to be able to use my old macbook pro in my back office, rather than getting another PC, as it seems like I should stick with macs if I'm using an ipad POS, right? However, I've never updated my macbook from OSX 10.4.11, and I'm not sure if I can even update to a new OS at this point, from such an old one? This is the laptop model I have:


http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2 .4-15-santa-rosa-specs.html


I looked into getting a refurbished macbook air, but I'm used to using 15" laptops or larger desktop screens for the last 7 years, and 13" laptops seem oddly small to me. The refurb 15" macbook pros are way out of my price range right now.


So, if there's any way to make my old, (decently fast for my purposes) 15" laptop functional in 2014 (i.e. by dumping all the files on a backup drive and updating to the latest OS it can handle), I'd like to continue using it for a while just for the 15" screen. Also, I have a bunch of firewire external drives I still use. Are there any OTHER reasons why this laptop would be unusable in 2014, other than the old OS? It has an Intel 2.4 GHz "Core 2 Duo" processor, usb 2.0, firewire 400, and firewire 800 ports. It doesn't have an HDMI port but I seem to recall buying a converter at some point to use it with a projector on campus, years ago. Maybe it was a different type of converter...


Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I've missed the last 7 years of advances in Macs while using PCs for work.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Oct 19, 2014 4:34 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Oct 20, 2014 1:55 AM

Start by checking if you can run Snow Leopard:


Requirements for OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'


http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575


(NB: PowerPC applications can still be run in Snow Leopard using Rosetta, but they will not work in later versions of OS X. For detailed information see this user tip: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6271 )


The OS 10.6 Snow Leopard install DVD is still available for $19.99 from the Apple Store:


http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard


and in the UK:


http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard


Before installation you should back up all your data.


When you have installed it, run Software Update to download and install the latest updates for Snow Leopard to bring it up to 10.6.8, or download the combo update from here:


http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399


Check via Software Update whether any further updates are required, particularly to iTunes (you will need the latest version in order to synch with mobile devices).


You should now see the App Store icon in iTunes, and you now need to set up your account:


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4479


You can now upgrade to Yosemite OS 10.10 for free IF you have one of the following Macs, with not less than 2GB of RAM, and at least 8GB of available space on your hard drive:


Yosemite will run on the following Macs:

iMac (Mid-2007 or later)

MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)

MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)

Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)

Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)

Xserve (Early 2009)

The requirements for Yosemite are the same as they were for OS X 10.9 Mavericks,


iCloud system requirements:


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4759


If you cannot run Yosemite you can purchase the code to use to download Mavericks from the App Store (requires an Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and 2GB of RAM, running the latest version of Snow Leopard):


http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-Mavericks


or Mountain Lion:


http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6377Z/A/os-x-mountain-lion


Getting your Mac ready for a major update like Yosemite:


http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/how-get-your-mac-ready-prepare-for -os-x-yosemite-release-how-to-download-yosemite-3521995/



Detailed review of Yosemite:


http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/os-x-10-10/

8 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Oct 20, 2014 1:55 AM in response to awholenoobworld

Start by checking if you can run Snow Leopard:


Requirements for OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'


http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575


(NB: PowerPC applications can still be run in Snow Leopard using Rosetta, but they will not work in later versions of OS X. For detailed information see this user tip: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6271 )


The OS 10.6 Snow Leopard install DVD is still available for $19.99 from the Apple Store:


http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard


and in the UK:


http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard


Before installation you should back up all your data.


When you have installed it, run Software Update to download and install the latest updates for Snow Leopard to bring it up to 10.6.8, or download the combo update from here:


http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399


Check via Software Update whether any further updates are required, particularly to iTunes (you will need the latest version in order to synch with mobile devices).


You should now see the App Store icon in iTunes, and you now need to set up your account:


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4479


You can now upgrade to Yosemite OS 10.10 for free IF you have one of the following Macs, with not less than 2GB of RAM, and at least 8GB of available space on your hard drive:


Yosemite will run on the following Macs:

iMac (Mid-2007 or later)

MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)

MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)

Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)

Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)

Xserve (Early 2009)

The requirements for Yosemite are the same as they were for OS X 10.9 Mavericks,


iCloud system requirements:


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4759


If you cannot run Yosemite you can purchase the code to use to download Mavericks from the App Store (requires an Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and 2GB of RAM, running the latest version of Snow Leopard):


http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-Mavericks


or Mountain Lion:


http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6377Z/A/os-x-mountain-lion


Getting your Mac ready for a major update like Yosemite:


http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/how-get-your-mac-ready-prepare-for -os-x-yosemite-release-how-to-download-yosemite-3521995/



Detailed review of Yosemite:


http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/os-x-10-10/

Aug 17, 2015 4:56 PM in response to awholenoobworld

I have a 2.2 GHz Santa Rosa and I just went to 10.10.5 from 10.6.8 ... Snow Leopard was a clean install as I had upgraded the hard drive and I did not install any of the OS X releases in-between. So I took a risk with updating in-place and it worked after a few quirks.


My Macbook Pro was overheating and crashing a lot at first but resetting the NVRAM (PRAM) a couple of times, and again after the latest update with iTunes 12.2.2 (no more scrambled libraries), it is running stable with less heating issues than with 10.6.8, what a surprise!


I'm happy to have made the update, no problems so far but I have to get used to the UX changes.

Aug 17, 2015 7:51 PM in response to garydpdx

I may have spoken too soon ... coming home tonight (I did not take my updated Macbook Pro today), the laptop had a couple of phantom reboots and was overheating. So the next step after doing some research, was to reset the SMC. Luckily, it was easy with the Santa Rosa since its battery is removable. (And everything accessible, allowing my to DIU the memory and hard drive upgrades).


If you don't see a follow-up after this, then everything is fine! 🙂

Sep 20, 2015 3:18 PM in response to gestyle

Your problem, hardware or software, may not be exactly the same as that of the original poster of this older thread, and it can be very confusing for everybody if we try to answer more than one question in each thread, which can also result in you applying the wrong advice to your particular problem.


In order for us to give your problem our proper attention to try to solve it, would you kindly start your own thread, describing the trouble you are having in the fullest detail, including completing your details to show what Mac or iDevice you are using, what operating system, and what version of the application in question. Please remember to post in the forum relevant to your hardware or version of OS X. A full list of all the support forums is here:


http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

Installing latest OS on 2007 macbook pro?

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